Re: Is the Tarantula Nebula visible from the U.S.?

Nice treat to top off a day in Hawaii! I knew Eta Car nebula and
southern cross are available even from Maui at sea level but the LMC's
Tarantula Nebula from Mauna Kea, now that is some treat. That is one
monster of a nebula and from over 9300 feet you may be looking mostly
above the low level muck just off of the ocean.
Marko

On 1/26/2012 9:33 PM, Steve Gottlieb wrote:
> At a declination of -69.1° the obvious answer is no, but last Saturday night it was no problem from the 9300' visitor center on Mauna Kea. From a latitude of +19° 45', the Tarantula just skims the horizon, culminating at an elevation of 1.1° (ignoring atmospheric refraction). Although the slopes of Mauna Loa loom to the southeast, they don't cut off any significant part of the sky due south and the transparent skies and high elevation were the keys.
>
> In any case due to significant atmosphere extinction, I was quite surprised the Tarantula Nebula was obvious as soon as I pointed my 10x30 IS binoculars at the horizon. In a 19" dob it was big and bright, but a pale imitation to views I've had from the southern hemisphere – in a large scope this is perhaps the most detailed deep sky object in the sky despite the fact it resides in the LMC. Certainly, the Tarantula is the furthest southern deep sky object visible from the US and I don't know if any other location could do the trick!

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